NASCAR Cup Series: Kevin Harvick believes Jimmie Johnson is disrespected

Kevin Harvick believes that seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson does not get the respect that he deserves.

Jimmie Johnson is one of the greatest NASCAR Cup Series of all-time, but 2014 Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick does not believe that he gets the respect that he deserves as such.

Johnson began competing in the Cup Series in the 2001 season when he drove in three races, and he has driven in the series on a full-time basis since the start of the 2002 season. He has only ever driven for Hendrick Motorsports, and he has only ever driven the #48 Chevrolet.

Over the course of his 19-year career in the Cup Series, the 43-year-old El Cajon, California native has competed in 616 races and earned 83 victories, 224 top five finishes, 353 top 10 finishes and 35 pole positions. His win total of 83 is tied for sixth on the all-time Cup Series wins list, and it is just one win away from being tied for fourth.

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Johnson has led 18,703 of the 175,275 laps that he has completed in Cup Series competition, and he has recorded an average career starting position of 11.9 and an average career finishing position of 12.6.

Most notably, Johnson is a seven-time champion, and he is one of only three drivers who have ever been able to say that. He won five consecutive championships from the 2006 season through the 2010 season before adding a sixth championship in the 2013 season and a seventh in the 2016 season. The sport’s only other seven-time champions are Richard Petty and the late Dale Earnhardt.

Here is what Harvick, who does not shy away from speaking his mind when it comes to the overall success (or lack thereof) of NASCAR and/or its drivers, had to say about Johnson being disrespected despite the fact that he has had the level of success that he has had over the course of his Cup Series career, according to Motorsport.

"“It was great because I feel like, in my opinion, Jimmie is one of the most disrespected great drivers that have every come through this garage. Jimmie Johnson is just a good old fashioned great guy. He helps people and has done great things in the garage and in a race car, out of a race car, and sometimes I feel like we forget that he has won seven championships and all the races that he has won and all the great things he has done.“It isn’t like he came from a rich daddy or family that had a lot of money. He came all the way up from the bottom to the top and worked hard and had a lot of success and has won as many championships as Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty. I never feel like he is on that pedestal next to those guys appropriately.“I feel like a lot of times the fan base changes so much that you almost have to re-introduce yourself every five or six years. Once you hear the Jimmie Johnson story and how he got to where he is, a lot of people know what he has done here, but it isn’t like it was handed to him. Our goal was to do something different and I don’t want the fans to not realize what they are watching with Jimmie because he has done so many great things, is such a great person, and a fun guy.”"

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Do you agree or disagree with Kevin Harvick that Jimmie Johnson is “one of the most disrespected great drivers” who have ever competed in the NASCAR Cup Series?

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